53 Team Whisky 3

Ta,Tak.

Sergeant Red tapped on his helmet twice. The squad members that had hidden themselves assembled together. They quickly moved through the forest in formation. Silence and Sergeant Red were well practiced soldiers. Han visually checked the back side as he moved forward.

'Silence had the best battle skills and moved the quickest on his feet so he was first. Sergeant Red was second in line because he could deliver prompt commands for Silence and at the same time deliver hand signals to those behind him. Simon was third since he was the most well rounded in skills. I could analyse the squad's condition the best so I would be last.'

Every little part of this operation was well thought out according to the squad members' skills.

'I would have chosen the same order as Sergeant Red.'

Han maintained his highest level of focus. He had always been the squad leader and was responsible for commanding his team. He always had to simultaneously think about many things at once. This time however, was different. He was not a squad leader but a mere member. He could empty his mind of small details and focus his attention solely on Sergeant Red's commands.

Step, Step.

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Eight kilometers were left until their military operation's final destination. They had chosen to walk to the destination to avoid the Elu mage's attention and bombing attacks. When Elu mages decide the situation is dangerous, they will choose to immediately flee. After the war of aggression had ended, the Elu mage had managed to slip from Ark's target for these past twelve years. The Elu mage this time around was very careful and cunning.

Eight kilometers was not too far, but not the shortest distance either. It wasn't easy moving through the thick forest while in full gear. Gradually, his focus was dulling. No matter how much he walked, he could only see thick forest up ahead.

"Haaa~,"

Simon unintentionally let out a yawn. He immediately shut his mouth. Sergeant Red scanned his surroundings and knocked on his helmet.

"We will take breaks in rotation while eating our meals. First Simon and I will keep watch, then Silence and Han. We will divide into two groups."

Sergeant Red and Simon found a secure spot. Han and Silence opened their food rations. Han had packed some biscuits and drinks. He finished his biscuit and chugged down a drink to help digest his food.

'Ah, how would Silence eat his food?'

Han peered towards Silence. The lower portion of his helmet flipped open so he could consume his food. Silence was eating a biscuit as well, taking his time to chew his food.

"So you don't take off your helmet while you eat. Isn't it stuffy?"

-Not at all!

Silence replied matter of factly. A blue text flashed on his helmet shield. Han momentarily took off his battle helmet. It had been made of high quality material with good ventilation, but it was unavoidable sweating buckets.

"Huu, I feel alive again."

Sweat rolled and dripped from his hair. Cool wind blew past drying his sweat.

'Silence shouldn't be immune to sweat. I wonder if he has a horrible scar on his face like the rumors said.'

He didn't bother to ask for the truth. It would be rude to try and dig into such a sensitive topic. Additionally, Silence seemed to treat Han with quite a cold shoulder. It seemed he still held a grudge over their past squad battle.

Shake, shake.

Silence slightly raised his helmet up and down. The cool wind entered into his helmet.

This looked oddly amusing. Han barely managed to stifle his laughter. He managed to get a look into Silence's personality today.

"I'll look away so why don't you take off your helmet for a little?"

Silence flinched upon Han's words. He hastily typed something to his bracelet.

-I'm not hot. Shut up!

'….He seems to hold much pride over strange things.'

Silence did not admit that he felt hot until the end. Han didn't make any more suggestions afterwards. The short break ended. Han put on his helmet once again. Silence re-equipped his gun and stood up front.

While Sergeant Red and Simon rested, Han and Silence maintained watch. The forest was quiet and occasionally they would see wild animals. Han understood this was South Korea's territory, but it felt like foreign land. The North Korea he had lived in was a decaying jungle-like city. He could only see the shining huge cities from far away.

Rustle.

Han narrowed his eyes. A bush rustled in the far distance. It shook in the opposite direction from the wind. It moved in rapid, sporadic directions while hidden.

-Elu tribe. Two scouts spotted.

A short text flashed on the screen of his helmet monitor. Silence had sent him this message. Silence had spotted enemies in his direction.

'Approaching the enemy.'

The scouts have a bigger build than your average Elu tribe member. They were fully equipped with a shield, sword, and leather armor. They were Elu warriors. Han stopped his breath and aimed his gun. Their guns would sound out, but they had to attack first.

-Do not attack.

Silence sent a hand sign. He took out his twin swords. Blue light flowed from within his helmet.

Pah.

Silence blinked to a nearby tree. Before the tree branch could break from his weight, he blinked once again.

Pah.

The second time he blinked, Silence had appeared behind the enemy Elu warriors. He beheaded the Elu in a flash. The heads rolled on the ground like watermelons.

-Situation terminated.

Text flowed from Silence's helmet shield. He spun his sword to fling off the blood from his blades.

'This is Silence.'

Han felt chills. The blink skill was practically a cheat. On top of superior battle skills, he had the blink ability which made Silence into an extremely valuable psyker.

How many people would be able to block Silence's surprise attack? If Silence were to join a specific nation's military, all other nations would be in fear of an invincible assassin.

'He's so skilled, but lost against me. It's no wonder he would feel irritated.'

Silence looked to Han while swaggering. Sergeant Red confirmed the situation and commanded the squad to continue moving. Simon looked dissatisfied for not having enough time to fully rest, but complied quietly.

Ssszzt-

As they neared the dimensional crack, their data bracelets and communication devices began to static. This time, they had prepared equipment for just this problem.

"Transfer over to our local squad network."

The GPS switched off, and instead a static map that had been preinstalled popped up. Noise disrupted the communication devices.

'We have officially lost all contact with Ark.'

If Squad Whiskey is wiped out, Ark would have no way of knowing until a long time later. Even a short moment of communication is not possible in this place. The nerve wracking nature of this place was on another level.

Han and the squad felt the strange sensation flowing from the dimensional crack. A strange pressure flowed from the crack that only psykers could feel.

Guuuuoooo!

Heavy pressure pressed down from the dimensional crack. However, acquired psykers like Sergeant Red did not feel much pressure. It was the inborn psykers like Han and other youths who felt a pressure that seemed to make breathing quite difficult. Their heart beat increased by double the natural pace.

'They're following well.'

Sergeant Red observed his squad's condition. It had not been long since Han had become tangled up in a traumatic accident.

Most second years were still recovering from the trauma, but Han had been able to immediately deploy out into an actual military operation while remaining calm. This was also Simon's first deployment in a military operation, but he wasn't agitated in the least.

'I could only count a few number of second years that could immediately be deployed for battle. Including these two, there should be about four or five students.'

The procedure and training process was complicated, and Ark always faced issues with manpower shortage. They always needed more psykers. Among the new young teen recruits, the actual youths that could immediately fight in actual battle without excessive mental strain was minimal. They needed to sort out the talented from the new recruits, though small in number, and cultivate their fighting spirits.

'If these kids are unable to fight, humanity will become extinct. We don't have enough time. We only have three years left now.'

Sergeant Red had treated the new first year recruits with a harshness even adult soldiers found unbearable.

If they can't handle his drills, they won't stand a chance on the battlefield as a young teen. Ark made the impossible possible, and the normal abnormal.

They didn't need excellent students; rather than a hundred second and third-class soldiers, they looked for only first class soldiers.

'No matter how well they perform inside the safe walls of Ark, if they're useless out in actual battle then everything is for naught. There will be no second chance in the face of dragons. What Han and Simon require is actual battle experience.'

While Sergeant Red was lost in thought, he noticed Silence pause his steps.

SSs-Sss-Ssk.

The sound was out of place from the forest. Silence, who lead the group raised his palm. The squad stopped and fell into absolute silence.

"Kekeke."

This was the Elu tribe's unique laughter. A hyena-like laughter sounded together with an indistinguishable language. Two Elu warriors were walking off somewhere.

-Should we engage the enemy?

Silence looked back to communicate his message. Sergeant Red looked to Han.

"Han, what do you think?"

Sergeant Red whispered.

"I think we should follow behind them."

"Why?"

"Those two should be a patrol or reconnaissance who just finished their rounds."

Sergeant Red nodded. This was a surprisingly insightful observation. It had been as Han said.

The two were relaxed like they were out on a light walk around the area, and it looked like they were returning back toward the dimensional crack.

If one compiles the data, it all points to this conclusion.

'There is always a best choice to be made. It's just the lack of data and information that made it hard to make the ultimate decision. Being able to grasp onto these leads was what differentiates a genius from a normal person.'

Different students from the same year as Han, would have made the decision to kill the two Elu warriors in front of them.

They would conclude that the two Elu would be an obstruction to their covert military operation. This was the usual thought process of youths, and had also been Silence's quiet decision.

However, in that short moment, Han had been able to observe the small details to lay the foundation for gaining a better understanding.

Although they had witnessed the same scene, they had experienced it differently and made opposing decisions. Their thought process and viewpoints were vastly different.